BRIAN FRONS: Please - Tell Me He's Not Working for Prospect Park Now!

For weeks I've been wrestling with a big industry question mark that just keeps getting bigger (and more twisted). Rumors - some from reliable sources - about a certain former executive and his improbable (or is it) present consulting gig.

LinkedIn puts me in the same circles as a certain Mr. Brian Frons - you know how it works. Algorithms! Anyway, LinkedIn keeps telling me the former ABC (and CBS and NBC) daytime chief is among the people I "may know". Since being ousted from ABC, Frons has worked for his own Frons Consulting, LLC company. LinkedIn wants to keep me abreast of his career. And what is he up to?

He's presently "confidentially consulting in the following areas: channel feasibility and startup, development and positioning as well as all aspects of program strategy, program development, acquisition and scheduling."

After weeks of questions from fans and colleagues (who always think I know more than I do!) about whether "it's really true Brian Frons is behind OLTL and AMC on TOLN" it's come to the point where I (I still can hardly believe it) can no longer dismiss these rumors. In fact, I think I need someone to disabuse me of the very peculiar notion that Frons is consulting ("confidentially"; never seen that in a consultant's profile befor, have you?) on the launch of ONE LIFE TO LIVE and ALL MY CHILDREN on The OnLine Network's new "channel"?

I reached out to Prospect Park for confirmation this couldn't possibly be true, and still waiting on that response. Stay tuned.

So who is it that Frons could he be consulting for? How many other current projects in his soap-world bailiwick, fitting the LinkedIn description, are there? I'm starting to believe that Frons is consulting for Prospect Park. Tell us what you think? What do you think Frons is up to now?

This moron shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the soap genre....Soap fans will have a fit and who knows what the retaliation will be. Maybe it's all a conspiracy to finally get rid of all soaps. Because the general soap fan may just boycott ANYTHING he has to do with. YIKES!!

You had better be kidding me and you had better be ready to face the consequences that come from kidding with me over this! Brian Frons was an asshole who ran AMC and OLTL into the ground when they were still high in demand and he based it on faulty ratings reports, budget cuts, and he wasn't even worth the time it took to print his name of his office door; the same office where he blindsided Susan Lucci with a meeting about the cancelation of AMC. The guy used her book tour to hide the truth about the cancelations, 9 MONTHS AFTER MAKING THE CAST AND CREWS MOVE ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT, and it took all of her class to keep from wringing his chicken neck and saying 'I AM ERICA KANE AND YOU ARE A FILTHY BEAST'! And to add more salt to an open wound, he had her deliver a statement in his words on his behalf. Didn't your mother or father teach you to do things yourself? You don't hide behind your desk, say 'Jump', and expect them to go 'How high' because their jobs depend on you feeling secure in your managementhood!

Brian Frons wet his bed but he still has to lie in it! He dropped the soaps and any convict can explain what happens next. And if "Brain dead" Brian Frons tries to consult, coach, criticize, or even whisper what he thinks would make so much as a single scene "acceptable", I am going to seriously barge into Prospect Park's corporate offices, look him in the eyes- which are the gateways to whatever is being passed off as a soul, quote Kid Rock with 'Get in the pit and try to love someone', and see if he has the intellectual fortitude to actually do the right thing and have a nice day!

Besides jobs in his description like scheduling have nothing to do with PP. Hulu does the scheduling, etc, etc. There are so many reasons that this isn't true--and yet we just KNOW this will start a huge amountof soap fans freaking out about how they knew to never trust PP, bla bla bla. oh well.

I hope that he is not a part of the relaunch. It would be a sick, cruel twisted joke if he was. What he did reminds me of when John Aniston was let go from Days back in the early '90s. The reason was the head writer just didn't want to write anymore stories for his character, putting an extremely talented actor and beloved villian out of work. Frons decided he didn't think that the Soaps were worth his time and therefore tanked two of the three on his roster, leaving one to say "no, I don't hate soaps. See, I left GH in tact, people just don't want them anymore". He put scores of actors, writers, producers, and crew out of work because he didn't believe in the genre. He'd better NOT be part of this relaunch because if he is the actors, writers, producers and crew will keep thinking he wants to tank them again. It will be a self fulfilling prophecy. I hope the other posters who mentioned other genres that he might be involved in are right. I really, really hope.

(Except as pointed out, it doesn't fit PP/TOLN's profile much at all...) As posted on a forum this also is his CV which doesn't sound appealing to PP at all:

Spearheaded creation, production and delivery of all product for the division. -Grew "The View" to one of the biggest shows in daytime television and used that success to re-engineer ABC Daytime as a Talk centric from a Soap Centric business. -Created programming strategy that is informative and authentic, centering on transformation, food and lifestyle. This resulted in launch of “The Chew” co-hosted by celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Michael Symon and Carla Hall and entertaining expert Clinton Kelly and health and wellness enthusiast Daphne Oz. -Partnered with ABC digital group to create simultaneous development and shows for the first time in ABC history.-Returned ABC Television Daytime to No. 1 Spot during the first year and maintained No 1 Spot and maintained that spot for entire tenure. -Garnered highest industry acclaim including multiple EMMY and GLAAD Awards as well as Gracie, NAACP, Gabriel and PRISM Awards. -P&L responsibility exceeded $500 Million annually.-Drove operating results at SOAPnet from Loss of $28 million to profit of $65 million over 5 year period. -Reorganized the division by combining ABC Daytime and SOAPnet, and ABC Media Productions, and reprogrammed ABC Daytime resulting in saving of $20 million.-Responsibility for over 1000 employees over 1200 hours of production produced, marketed and promoted. -Reported to Anne Sweeney, Co-chair Disney Media Networks and President Disney/ABC Television Group.

Haven't we heard enough stories about Jill Farren Phelps landing on her feet again and again at next soap after next soap, without starting something else (true or not) about the closest thing to a male version of her in daytime?!?!? Please...no more airplay for him, please.

UPDATE 11:03 AM ET: In a statement released to Soap Opera Network, Jeff Kwatinetz, co-founder, Prospect Park, says, “Brian Frons and ABC cancelled the soaps. As the people trying to save them, why on earth would we ever work with him?!?!”

If he's "confidentially consulting" anywhere, my first guess would be with Times Square Studios (ABC). That's often how it works at big companies. They give some exec the ol' golden handshake, then six months later the person has a consulting gig back at some business unit in the same company.

Thanks Confessions, yes indeed that was the line from Jeff in his emails with me (http://www.welovesoaps.net/2013/04/prospect-park-sets-millions-of-soap-fan.html) and it certainly "spells relief." There is one little thing nagging at me... the rhetorical "why on earth would we ever work with him?!?!" loses some of its oomph when we consider it was Frons they cut the deal with to begin with...